Ghosts Aren't Scary at All
by Katou Michinzu
Summary: Sakata Gintoki, the feared legend known as Shiroyasha, is afraid of ghosts. But who can blame him? Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** How is it possible for me to own Gintama? No.

**A/N:** I finally posted a oneshot... Oh. Anyways, I'd just like to make it clear that this is when Little Gintoki was just starting to get used to surviving on his own, so basically... The nickname Corpse-Eating Demon still bothered him. A lot. And that he's more vulnerable and scared compared to the flashback we've seen of him. (Y'know, of not being that afraid or intimidated by Shouyo-sensei that much when he first met him)

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**Ghosts Aren't Scary at All**

Ghosts aren't scary. They don't even exist, so there's nothing to be afraid of. People would think that someone as noble a samurai the silver-haired man is, that ghosts wouldn't be something he would be nervous about. That's what people believe.

But no, they're wrong. Ghosts are scary.

He would never admit it to anyone, but it's true. He is afraid of them. It was obvious that he was anyway.

"Oniichaaan, what are you reading?" a little girl asked.

"It's a story about ghosts." The boy beamed.

Ghosts?

"Hmm... What are ghosts?"

"Ghosts are spirits of the dead people." He could just hear the excitement in the boy's voice, he wonders why.

"Spirits.. of.. dead people.." he repeated quietly to himself. Little Gintoki crouched on the outside of the house, stared at the ground. He had the luck of finding some warm bread to eat by the window. As he began to eat away to satisfy his starving self, he had heard a pair of kids talking about 'ghosts.'

"Ehhhh. That sounds so cool! Then that means we can meet dead people?" replied the little girl happily.

Meet dead people? Does that mean he would meet those people he had encountered?

"Weell, yeah. But it's dangerous to meet them."

"Huh? But whyyy?"

"Weell, it says here that ghosts are bad. They possess you and scare you."

Ghosts are bad? Probably. They would probably be bad to him, atleast.

"But why would they do that?" asked the girl.

"I dunno. Maybe because it's fun."

The girl's big brother goes on about the stories he read about them, about how they're so scary, how they're bad, of what they do, of all he knows about them.

"And also, I heard that some places in this town's haunted." the boy added, slowly and intimidatingly.

"H-Haunted? W-What's haunted?" the girl stuttered worriedly.

Little Gintoki hugged onto his katana tightly.

He heard the boy laugh lightly, before answering, "Haunted is what people call the things or places that are full of ghosts."

He was still hungry, but he was losing his appetite. No. He has to eat. He's hungry, it's rare to be able to eat something delicious as this. Ghosts are not scary. Not at all.

He flinched, dropping the bread he was munching on. He suddenly heard the girl scream. Terrified, he decided to peek to see what was going on.

He sighed softly, not realizing that he has been holding his breath. The little girl's brother was simply wearing a demon-mask as he scares the girl.

"Uwaaahh! Mommy, daddy! Where are you?" the girl began crying, yelling for her parents to come.

The shoji immediately slid open, revealing a woman coming quickly to the girl.

"Eru-chan!" the mother held the girl named Eru-chan, gently rubbing her back as she calms her daughter down.

"It's okay now. Don't cry anymore. It's all okay now.." murmured the woman to the girl.

When the girl finally stopped crying, her mother turned to her son to question of what happened. To which the boy explained and defended himself, saying he was only answering her questions.

And scaring her too while he did, he wanted to add.

"You didn't have to scare her." she scolded. In response, the boy immediately apologize.

His mother nodded, then attempted to convince the girl in her arms that there was nothing to be afraid of.

"But... do ghosts exist?"

The crimson-eyed orphan widened his eyes as he listens quietly and attentively.

Her mother, of course, assured the girl that ghosts are nothing but myths and legends. But she didn't believe her, arguing that her brother has told her of many things that has actually happened, implying that they do exist.

The girl had a point. Honestly, he was already fine when he heard that ghosts didn't exist. He should have left already by then. He wished he didn't have to hear all this.

The mother, seeing that she couldn't change the girl's mind, sighed, and said, "Eru-chan, Haru-kun, listen to me."

They both nodded. He did too.

"I have never seen a ghost. Ever. And even if they do exist, not all of them are bad."

"R-Really?" the girl inquired unbelievingly.

Not all ghosts are bad? he thought to himself. Is he going to meet the good ones? Or the bad ones? Hopefully neither. He has a feeling that they won't like him.

"Really. And besides.." the woman brought her up as she spins her around, puts the girl to sit by the bed laughing, as she tells her son to come too. As he did, she hugged the both of them tightly.

"You don't have to worry. We'll be here to protect you, so no ghosts are going to scare you." she assured them with a gentle smile.

Little Gintoki turned his back on them, leaned on the wall, as he stared up to the skies. What about him? Who will keep the ghosts away for him?

"Oi! You! Who are you and what are you doing down there?" a man shouted.

"..H-Huh?!" With widened eyes, he stared in fear at the man coming towards him. He looked.. mad. Really, really mad. He was glaring at him like all those other people he had met before. He also had a katana by his side, and he looked like he was going to reach for it..

He wearily stood up, holding his own katana up as he slowly unsheathed it with trembling hands.

"W-What's going on?"

The mother of Haru and Eru came up behind him by the window, causing him to jump in surprise as he then stared back at her.

It was enough time for the man to be now right in front of him. It was enough to distract him. It was enough to terrify him.

Therefore, little Gintoki, panicking, moved without thinking. He turned back to the man, he ran up to him, along with his katana striked towards him. The man was able to dodge it aiming for his heart, but instead, he was slashed by the arm.

"Ngh!" the man grunted.

"D-Dad!" he heard the boy yell.

It was enough to bring him back to his senses.

He realized that his hands were shaking, he was gritting his teeth, that the katana had some red liquid spilled on it.

Reluctantly, he turned back, only to see the girl, the boy, and the mother going over to the man. The silver-haired boy was beginning to breathe at a fast pace.

But he managed to calm down a little, seeing that the attack he had inflicted wasn't that bad. It was definitely going to leave an ugly scar, but it wasn't deep enough to cause too much of a serious injury.

Although the image of the kids crying, made him feel horrible.

"M-Mommy.. is he a ghost?" the girl pointed towards him.

In response, he pointed to himself accusingly. Him, a ghost?

"..Th-That's no ghost." the man stood up weakly.

Little Gintoki stumbled backwards in fear, holding up his sword once again.

"That's a demon. The corpse-eating demon. Much worse than a ghost."

He choked with his words, not knowing what to say. He's not a ghost, and he's not a demon either! But it was pointless. It's pointless to tell them they're wrong, because they simply wouldn't listen.

"W-Worse than a.."

"..g-ghost?.." the boy finished for his sister.

The man began walking towards him, and with each step he makes, he would set a foot backward.

"You were the one who killed my buddies, weren't you? You filthy demon!"

Run. Escape. Leave this place and don't ever come back.

That's what he has to do. That's all he could ever do. And so he did.

Surprisingly, he wasn't caught yet. He could hear other residents of the town too, probably called by the man.

He kept running and running, too caught up with fear to even look back.

It was when he was panting heavily, when he couldn't run anymore, that he stopped running.

He was able to lose them. It took him to hide deep in the forest, but atleast they wouldn't find him here.

But now he was lost. And it was already night time.

He could hear things. Things that startled him. The leaves rustling, different kinds of animals making creepy noises - such as a fox howling, the owls hooting, crickets chirping, it was unsettling. He could feel something crawling on his back. Quickly, he tried to get it off of him, it felt nauseating.

When he was done, he slowly took one step back at a time. He needs to get out of here.

As he did, something cracked. A small branch. Because of that, the forest became noisier. It was so noisy that it felt like it was growling at him.

Another step back cause a squirrel to yell at him this time. The silver-haired boy jumped and stumbled onto the ground with a loud thud.

The nightly breeze made it worse. Now he was shivering from the cold and shaking out of fear.

The noises became louder and louder by the second. Little Gintoki felt as if someone else was here too. He should be relieved, maybe a town resident would find him. Or maybe it was just another squirrel.

The bushes rustling and creaking was becoming more audible in front of him. He gripped onto his katana, pursed his lips and closed his eyes, waiting for what he would see.

"You.. killer.." he heard someone mutter.

When he reluctantly opened his eyes, he gasped. A man was looking down at him. And he was covered in blood.

"A corpse.. eating.. demon." another one muttered from the behind.

He started taking faster breaths. His chest felt like it was going to burst.

"A demon shouldn't be lurking around here."

The crimson-eyed orphan clumsily got to his feet. And then ran towards his left. Away from the pair of men covered in blood.

He was caught by the back of his yukata, and lifted up in the air. Biting his quivering lip, he slashed at the man with all of the strength he mustered.

"..H-Huh?" he stuttered weakly. Hecwas so sure that he gave the man a clean cut. But why didn't it seem that way?

The man grinned, amused by the child's reaction.

But now that Little Gintoki took a proper look.. Why didn't he have pupils in his eyes? Why was his pair of eyes white and white only? Why did the man's touch sent doen chills to his skin? Why did he seem transparent?

There was no use denying it.

"..G-Get away from me!" he shouted furiously as he jumped, falling to tghe ground from the man's grip. This isn't real. This couldn't be real.

He also realized one more thing.

Why did the pair of men turn into a dozen? And why did they all look familiar?

His struggles didn't do anything good. Nothing seemed to have affected the man.

His expression darkened as they all came to him together.

"A-Ahhhhh!.." he screamed.

But no one seemed to have heard him, except for a flock of birds fleeing away.

He snapped his eyes open and sat up, his crimson eyes blinking and wondering. He frantically looked around, trees and broad daylight.  
His hand reached for his head as his breathing slowly calmed down, sweat trickling down.

It was just a dream?

_"That's a demon. The corpse-eating demon. Much worse than a ghost."_

_"W-Worse than a.."_

_"..g-ghost?.." _

No, not that. He was sure that wasn't a dream. But that part about the blood-covered men...

He cringed. He looked at his shaking hands. He can't be afraid of ghosts. He isn't afraid of them. Not at all.

Besides, he was worse than a ghost after all. A demon, right?

The corpse-eating demon.

_"You don't have to worry. We'll be here to protect you, so no ghosts are going to scare you."_

_"Eru-chan and Haru-kun are really lucky.."_ he thought.

He stood up, shaking his head. Whether they do exist or not is none of his concern. He just has to stay away from them as much as possible, if they were real. He was, as they say, much worse than a ghost after all.

He still couldn't help being afraid of them though.

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**A/N:** My little head canon of why Gintoki is so afraid of ghosts.


End file.
